The injury to won’t worry Liverpool, whereas Man City should be more concerned about another thing.

After suffering an ankle injury before playing Liverpool, Erling Haaland is a hot topic, but Man City has more pressing issues to deal with.

It is understandable why news of Erling Haaland’s possible injury is dominating the schedule leading up to Liverpool’s match against Manchester City. After all, the Norwegian is scoring more than a goal per game in the Premier League this season, continuing from where he left off the previous one.

In the meantime, Rodri and Phil Foden, among others, are ranked three goals apiece in joint-25th place, with Manchester City’s next player on the list of the league’s best scorers, coming in at joint-16th. Given that he structured his entire team around the erratic striker, Pep Guardiola would obviously have a need to fill if Haaland were to miss a match against Liverpool.

Supporters will surely be watching every fitness update leading up to the Liverpool game, or at least until Sunday, when Haaland might allay fears by playing in Norway’s next encounter against Scotland. After all, there won’t be much else to do during the international break. In the end, though, Jürgen Klopp won’t be overly worried.

It would be foolish, therefore, to underestimate Haaland’s influence. His goal total over the course of several seasons and seasons to come speaks for itself. Though it might change in an instant, he presently has a mediocre record versus Liverpool.

As of right present, Liverpool is still one of the few Premier League teams against whom Haaland has not scored. After his goals against Chelsea last weekend, the club is down to just three players: Luton, Brentford, and the Reds are the only ones who haven’t given up, with the latter having the advantage of having never met him.

It is noteworthy that Haaland has faced Liverpool in just one Premier League match. Due to injury, he was unable to participate in the 4-1 victory at the Etihad, which should serve as enough of a warning that the Norwegian’s presence or absence will not determine the outcome of the match.

Expanding the horizon to encompass all leagues, Haaland has faced Liverpool five times. His performance in those games has been lacklustre for a player with such a stellar overall record: two goals, zero assists, and four defeats.

There are, once more, clear warnings. In two of those contests (and in fact, one of the goals) Haaland led the line for a significant underdog playing for Red Bull Salzburg. It was his Manchester City debut in the Community Shield.

It’s not impossible for Haaland to score goals against Liverpool, but whether he plays or not is far from a make-or-break situation. Given that Virgil van Dijk is back to his dominant best, Klopp will be optimistic that he can limit him again, having contained him previously.

All things considered, Manchester City ought to be far more concerned than just whether or not their top player will be healthy. Guardiola has to worry about how he is going to contain the lucky striker for Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah has a stellar record while playing Manchester City. Over the course of 19 games (including, to be fair, a blank in the FA Cup while playing for Chelsea off the bench), the Egyptian has notched 11 goals and five assists.

It’s obvious that Salah is something Manchester City has never quite figured out how to stop. Amazingly, he last played in this league matchup in July 2020, a 4-0 loss for Liverpool, with neither a goal nor an assist.

Matches versus Manchester City have been referred to as a match between Haaland and Darwin Núñez ever since they both joined the league. Salah is the real leader for Klopp’s team, even though you wouldn’t bet against the Uruguayan making a big difference as he continues to establish himself at Liverpool.

Although Haaland has surpassed Salah in the Premier League goal record for a single season, he still has a ways to go before he can be considered as great as the Liverpool icon. Players leave their mark in close games like this, and Manchester City has often discovered that Klopp has the best big-game players at his disposal.